


Midnight Tea

by captainraz



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/F, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-07
Updated: 2016-08-07
Packaged: 2018-08-07 05:15:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7702144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainraz/pseuds/captainraz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cassandra makes herself a late night cup of tea. Josephine joins her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Midnight Tea

Josephine is up late, entertaining important guests in the great hall. Cassandra knows this because she can’t sleep and has decided to slip off to the kitchens for a mug of tea. The ambassador’s laughter follows her all the way down the stairs.

_Maker, I wish I could make her laugh like that._

Cassandra puts the thought out of her mind, focussing on preparing her tea. It’s not a difficult task, but Cassandra finds it almost meditative. Despite her best efforts, her thoughts drift back to the Antivan ambassador.

Josephine is beautiful when she laughs. Cassandra doesn’t remember when she first noticed this but she remembers the feeling of being punched in the gut when she realised what it meant. After that the revelations were like an avalanche; dangerous and utterly unstoppable.

Cassandra realised that seeing Josephine smile brightened her entire day, even if the smile wasn’t directed at her. She realised that she missed attending war council meetings, not because of anything decided in them, but because they allowed her to watch Josephine in her element, all sharp wit and endless charm. Her heart aches at her decision to step down from the Council after the Herald was appointed Inquisitor.

(She knows she has it bad, but Cassandra also knows it doesn’t matter; Josephine deserves better than a scarred and surly old Seeker who is too stubborn and pious for her own good. That fact does nothing to stop her _wanting_ though.)

The kitchen door opens, startling Cassandra for all her training. Josephine steps though looking worn, her face lined with fatigue, and for the first time it occurs to Cassandra that the laughter she heard earlier might not have been entirely genuine.

“Oh,” says Josephine, pressing a hand to her chest in surprise. “I didn’t think anyone would be down here so late.”

Cassandra shrugs. “I thought a cup of tea might help me sleep. Would you like some?”

“Oh yes please,” says Josephine, and she sounds so delighted and grateful that Cassandra’s insides start misbehaving; she’s too old for butterflies in her stomach but that’s exactly what it feels like.

She busies herself with the pot, preparing Josephine’s cup exactly how she likes it. (She doesn’t dwell on the reason she’s filed this knowledge away next to the most important secrets of her order. How Josephine takes her tea is very important information as far as she’s concerned.)

Josephine takes a long sip from her mug and sighs, her eyes closing in sheer bliss. Something in Cassandra’s chest constricts, but she does her best to ignore it.

“Thank you,” Josephine says, smiling in a way that makes Cassandra’s heart stop. “I didn’t realise how much I needed that.”

Cassandra remembers about her own drink and the two women sip their tea in companionable silence. The Seeker’s pulse hammers in her ears the whole time. Josephine is so close, it’s just the two of them. She could say something, but she doesn’t. Ask her to go up against the Chantry to do what’s right and she’ll do it, but Cassandra has always been less good at following her heart. She keeps quiet.

When Josephine has drained her mug she rinsed it out and leaves it by the sink. As she heads for the door she has to pass where Cassandra is stood, still nursing her mug. Josephine pauses, and an uncertain look crosses her face.

“Thank you,” she says again, only this time her voice is low, intimate. Cassandra suppresses a shudder of pleasure.

Then Josephine takes her completely by surprise as she leans in and up, rolling onto her toes to press a kiss to Cassandra’s cheek. She almost drops her mug at the sensation of Josephine’s soft lips again a her skin, but manages to control herself in time.

Josephine smiled at her, soft and secret in the corner of her mouth, a look of mischief in her eyes that says she knows exactly what effect she has on the Seeker. “Well, goodnight Cassandra,” she says and sweeps out of the kitchen.

Cassandra’s cheek is still warm from the kiss and a grin steals its way across her face. Maybe, just maybe, Josephine might feel the same way about Cassandra as she does about the ambassador. For the first time there is a spark of hope in her chest.

Her heart is beating wildly as she drains her cup. Despite the tea, she knows sleep will be a long way off. Strange though, she can’t bring herself to mind.

Cassandra makes her way back through Skyhold to her loft, smiling softly to herself. Perhaps she would bring Josephine tea in the morning. It probably won’t be accompanied by a kiss, but one can hope.


End file.
